Grid falling film devolatilizer

Abstract

A grid falling film devolatilizer including a tower housing, a liquid distributor for distributing liquid within the tower housing, and one or more internal towers arranged in the tower housing in a parallel manner, for continuously forming and regenerating a large surface of film material using liquid from the liquid distributor. Each internal tower has (i) a round, square or rectangle cross section, (ii) four corners, (iii) four pillars standing at the four corners of the internal tower, respectively, and (iv) multiple grid trays supported within the internal tower and numbering between 2 to 500. Each pair of neighboring grid plates having an interval in the range of about 20 to 500 mm. Also, each grid tray includes a pair of beams, a plurality of grid bars and corresponding guide members.

1. A grid falling film devolatilizer comprising:
 a tower housing having a round, square or rectangle cross section; 
 a liquid distributor for distributing liquid within said tower housing; and 
 one or more internal towers arranged in said tower housing in a parallel manner, for continuously forming and regenerating a large surface of film material using the liquid supplied by said liquid distributor; 
 wherein each said internal tower consists of pillars and multiple grid trays, and four pillars stand respectively at four corners of said internal tower which has a square or rectangle cross section, and wherein the number of said grid trays is from 2 to 500, and each pair of neighboring grid trays having a layer interval in the range of about 20 to 500 mm; 
 wherein each said grid tray includes a pair of beams, a plurality of grid bars and corresponding guide members; 
 wherein said beams are located at opposite sides of said grid tray, in a horizontal plane of same height, and are fixed to said pillars; 
 wherein said grid bars are fixed perpendicularly to said beams and are arranged in either single tier, double tiers or multiple tiers in a parallel manner; 
 wherein said grid bars have a cross-section of triangle, reverse “V” shape; 
 wherein said guide members include guide mesh and a clamp for fixation of said guide mesh and 
 wherein said guide members are disposed at a grid gap between said two neighboring grid bars and parallel to said grid bars, and said corresponding clamps are fixed to said beams; and 
 wherein the outmost grid bars in each said grid tray are formed as inclines or bent strips which present a larger vertical surface and serve as baffles for keeping liquid level in each said grid tray or the clamps of the outmost guide members in each said grid tray are extended so as to be higher than other said clamps and serve as baffles for keeping the liquid level in each said grid tray. 
 
     
     
       2. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 1 , wherein hangers are provided on the upper part of the pillars and supporting brackets are provided on the upper part of the tower housing; wherein said hangers are mounted on said supporting brackets and fastened with bolts, so that said internal tower is mounted inside said tower housing; and wherein locating blocks are provided on the lower part of said pillars and matching stoppers are provided on the lower part of said tower housing for limiting the swing of the bottom of said internal tower. 
     
     
       3. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 1 , wherein the number of said multiple grid trays is from 5 to 200 and said layer interval between two neighboring grid trays is from 40 to 250 mm. 
     
     
       4. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 1 , wherein said grid bars in two neighboring grid trays are arranged in a manner selected from the group consisting of: a) being arranged in the same direction but staggered by half a film interval; b) being crossed at 90 degrees; and c) being arranged in the same direction but staggered by half a film interval and being crossed at 90 degrees. 
     
     
       5. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 1 , wherein said guide meshes are woven metal wires, metal sheets, perforated metal sheets, expanded metal meshes, tube array or non-metal meshes; and wherein said guide meshes can be directly fixed below said grids, eliminating said clamps. 
     
     
       6. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 5 , wherein said tube array is formed by joining two corrugated sheets in a face-to-face manner and fixing them with butt welding, and introducing heating or cooling medium thereinto. 
     
     
       7. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 1 , wherein an overflowing film-forming mechanism is employed, wherein said clamps are placed at two sides of a grid bar to constitute a grid funnel and said clamps act as overflow weirs. 
     
     
       8. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 7 , wherein a grid bar is disposed above two adjacent clamps that belong to two neighboring grid funnels respectively, and the width of the said grid bar is no less than the interval between the two clamps thereunder; and wherein said grid funnels in two adjacent grid trays cross at 90 degrees, or alternatively are arranged in the same direction while the grid funnels are staggered by half an interval of said grid funnel. 
     
     
       9. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to the  claim 7 , wherein said grid funnels in two adjacent grid trays are arranged in the same direction but staggered by half an interval of grid funnel. 
     
     
       10. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 1 , wherein the grid bars in said grid trays are arranged in such a manner that width of grid gaps in said grid trays are gradually increased from top to bottom. 
     
     
       11. A grid falling film devolatilizer comprising:
 a tower housing having a round, square or rectangular cross section; 
 a liquid distributor for distributing liquid within said tower housing; 
 one or more internal towers arranged in said tower housing in a parallel manner, for continuously forming and regenerating a large surface of film material using liquid from said liquid distributor; 
 wherein each said internal tower consists of pillars and multiple grid trays, and four pillars stand respectively at four corners of said internal tower which has a square or rectangle cross section; wherein the number of grid trays is 2 to 500, and each pair of neighboring grid trays having a layer interval in the range of about 20 to 500 mm; and 
 wherein each said grid tray comprises a pair of beams, a plurality of grid bars and corresponding guide members. 
 
     
     
       12. The grid falling film devolatilizer of  claim 11 , wherein said beams are located at opposite sides of said grid tray, in a horizontal plane of same height, and are fixed to said pillars. 
     
     
       13. The grid falling film devolatilizer of  claim 12 , wherein said grid bars are fixed perpendicularly to said beams and are arranged in single tier, double tiers or multiple tiers in a parallel manner. 
     
     
       14. The grid falling film devolatilizer of  claim 13 , wherein said grid bars have a cross-section of triangle, reverse “V” shape formed by bending thin metal strips, circle or other shapes. 
     
     
       15. The grid falling film devolatilizer of  claim 11 , said guide members comprise guide mesh and a clamp for fixation of said guide mesh, and are disposed at a grid gap between the two neighboring grid bars and parallel to the grid bars, the corresponding clamps are fixed to the beams. 
     
     
       16. The grid falling film devolatilizer of  claim 15 , the outmost grid bars in said grid tray are formed as inclines or bent strips which present a larger vertical surface and serve as baffles for keeping liquid level in said grid tray; or the clamps of the outmost guide members in said grid tray are extended to be higher than others and serve as baffles for keeping the liquid level in said grid tray. 
     
     
       17. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 11 , wherein hangers are provided on the upper part of said pillars and supporting brackets are provided on the upper part of the tower housing; and wherein said hangers are mounted on said supporting brackets and fastened with bolts, so that said internal tower is mounted inside the tower housing; and locating blocks are provided on the lower part of the pillars and matching stoppers are provided on the lower part of the tower housing for limiting the swing of the bottom of the internal tower. 
     
     
       18. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 11 , wherein the number of the said multiple grid trays is in the range of from 5 to 200 and the layer interval between two neighboring grid trays is in the range of from 40 to 250 mm. 
     
     
       19. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 11 , wherein said grid bars in two neighboring grid trays are arranged in a manner selected from the group consisting of: a) being arranged in the same direction but staggered by half a film interval; b) being crossed at 90 degrees; and c) being arranged in the same direction but staggered by half a film interval and being crossed at 90 degrees. 
     
     
       20. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 15 , wherein said guide meshes are woven metal wires, metal sheets, perforated metal sheets, expanded metal meshes, tube array or non-metal meshes; and wherein said guide meshes can be directly fixed below the grids, eliminating said clamps. 
     
     
       21. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 20 , wherein said tube array is formed by joining two corrugated sheets in a face-to-face manner and fixing them with butt welding, and introducing heating or cooling medium thereinto. 
     
     
       22. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 11 , wherein an overflowing film-forming mechanism is employed, and wherein clamps are placed at two sides of a grid bar to constitute a grid funnel and said clamps act as overflow weirs. 
     
     
       23. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 22 , wherein one said grid bar is disposed above two adjacent clamps that belong to two neighboring grid funnels respectively, and the width of the said grid bar is no less than the interval between the two clamps thereunder; and wherein said grid funnels in two adjacent grid trays cross at 90 degrees, or alternatively are arranged in the same direction while the grid funnels are staggered by half an interval of said grid funnel. 
     
     
       24. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to the  claim 22 , wherein said grid funnels in two adjacent grid trays are arranged in the same direction but staggered by half an interval of grid funnel. 
     
     
       25. The grid falling film devolatilizer according to  claim 11 , wherein the grid bars in said grid trays are arranged in such a manner that width of grid gaps in said grid trays are gradually increased from top to bottom.